


Outcast of Hogwarts

by s_BI_cedtea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Multi, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-08-17 02:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_BI_cedtea/pseuds/s_BI_cedtea
Summary: Hogwarts isn't always an easy school to be in, let alone when secrets are uncovered by an outcast and his rival, forcing them to work together and save the school from inevitable ruin.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first time ever actually posting a fanfic and I’m nervous af so bear with me, I’m a straight up newbie who doesn’t know anything.  
> Now, I know Harry Potter/Voltron AUs are a plenty, but… damn, this might just be a piece of self-indulgent crap I wrote to appease my heart, because frankly, most of the other HP/VLD AUs don’t last long enough and leave me desperate for more fluff and everything.  
> Which is what I plan on giving y’all.  
> And ‘Kosmo/Cosmo’ is kind of a weird name for a cat-like familiar so you’ll all have to deal with Keith’s being called ‘Kossomo’ instead.  
> *And heads up, after the first day it’s a dual narrative, a third or fourth one added in on occasions*  
> Enjoy  
> 

Chapter 1

  
Keith’s breath caught in his throat as he heard the sorting hat’s first whisper.  
He already knew which house he was going to end up in, he didn’t need a hat to tell him.  
“brave at heart, strong of will… you would be fine suited to Gryffindor; but you’re smart—very smart indeed, you have a quick wit and are keen to learn, all traits of a Ravenclaw. Cunning… quick…” The hat considered for a moment, mumbling to itself about how Keith would stick out like a sore thumb among Hufflepuffs.  
Then, with a grunt, it continued.  
“Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw…” Keith was the final pupil to be sorted, and all eyes were upon him even before the hat started to have such difficulty sorting him.  
“would you please choose already?” Keith hissed under his breath, only just loud enough for the sorting hat to hear; his shoulders were tight, his whole body tense with nerves.  
The sorting hat chuckled, “you’re different… strong, smart, cunning, you have a sharp tongue and are a born leader, most fear me, but you… you are different, Keith Kogane. You who has a sharp tongue, sly like a fox, sticks to the shadows for fear you will be noticed for what you are.”  
The hat shifted on his head and Keith set his jaw defiantly.  
“in Hufflepuff, you simply do not belong; In Ravenclaw, you’re athleticism would be wasted and you would be outcasted for it; in Gryffindor your wit and skills would be valued highly but you would be feared; so, for you,” The sorting hat takes a deep breath, “Slytherin!” and there it was. Keith had expected it.  
Cheers rose from the pupils of Slytherin who clapped madly. The hat was lifted from Keith’s head and he hopped down from his perch on the stool to join his fellow first-years.  
He wasn’t greeted with handshakes, ruffles of the hair or pats on the shoulder like most of the others. No. He was confronted with stares, most unfriendly or of utter indifference.  
He knew he belonged in Slytherin, but it didn’t mean that he would be accepted.  
Some took one look at his amethyst eyes before deciding that he was different and not to be spoken to, others simply decided they were better off pretending he didn’t exist from day-one.  
Frankly, he didn’t mind one bit.  
All of the first years were rounded up by house and led by their prefects to the dormitories; prior to the Battle of Hogwarts, Slytherin’s dorms were in what was known as the ‘dungeons’, but now each house had their own dedicated tower.  
Keith managed to squeeze into the room he was designated first and claimed the bed nearest to the window, soon to follow were five more boys who didn’t spare him a glance.  
His singular trunk was already there and on top was a crate with a rather pissed Kossomo inside who he let out. His familiar stretched and yawned, taking in the new surrounding as he did so.  
Despite his early misfortune and having to be sent to an orphanage, Keith’s parents left him a considerable amount of money and so he had everything he needed—and a few extras.  
Well, ‘a few extras’ was not the correct way to describe how many books he had stuffed into his trunk.  
Kossomo sat patiently on the bed while his master unpacked, pulling out robes, books, casual clothes for warmer and colder seasons, paper, ink and quills, books again… more books.  
Keith’s roommates stopped their own unpacking to watch his, looking on as he stuffed clothing into his drawers, set up a make-shift shelf for his many books, and generally made sure everything was in perfect order.  
“Keeeeeeeef,” Keith turned to his familiar who whined impatiently, “food.”  
Rolling his eyes, he dug around in the few belongings remaining in his trunk and pulled out a bag of treats, tossing one to Kossomo.  
“your cat… it just spoke…” Keith stuffed the bag of treats into a pocket and looked at his roommate.  
“yeah, and…?” he prompted.  
The boy glared at him, frowning deeply, “what do you mean, ‘And’? It’s not fucking normal in case you hadn’t realised, dumb ass.”  
“you’re the dumb one, Kossomo isn’t even a cat, in case you hadn’t realised,” Keith said the last bit mockingly.  
“I’m a fox-cat, is what I am.” Kossomo muttered, licking his paw delicately.  
“your cat-fox thing isn’t normal, _you’re_ not normal. It’s a match made in heaven.”  
“James, I think that’s enough…” one of the others started, resting a hand on James’ shoulder which was quickly shrugged off.  
James picked up Kossomo by the scruff when the familiar walked past him to the door.  
“I don’t like you, or your familiar, so stay out of my way.” James let go of Kossomo who had started hissing by that point, Keith’s canines pierced the soft skin of his lips as he bit them in an effort to not lash out.  
“you’re probably not even human.”  
Keith already knew it was going to be a long year, but he wasn’t expecting it to be quite so tormenting.

 

Lance was settling into Hogwarts well, he had already made a few friends on the Hogwarts Express, and his roommates all seemed friendly enough. And so after the tour of the school, he met up with said friends and they got to know each other better.  
Katie, or rather ‘Pidge’, was in Ravenclaw, she was exceptionally intelligent and the spitting image of her older brother who was two years above them; Hunk was in Hufflepuff and had a heart made of gold, he had a fascination with anything culinary and unsurprisingly, loved to cook.  
Despite all being in different houses, (Lance being in Gryffindor) they were already inseparable.  
“I wonder why the sorting hat had such difficulty sorting that last kid today,” Lance mused aloud as he and his friends ate their first meal at Hogwarts.  
Pidge snorted and pushed her round glasses further up her pert nose, “maybe because he’s essentially mute, I’ve heard him say maybe five words so far.”  
The three of them stole a glance at a quiet Keith who was pushing his food around his plate. He was sitting with five other boys but looked miserable, not saying a single word. One of them said something and he looked up, his mouth opened, but closed only a second later, his calculating gaze found his plate once more and stayed there.  
“I dunno, he looks pretty unhappy. I think we should invite him over,” Hunk suggested, spooning more buttered potatoes into his mouth.  
Lance did almost pity him, but…  
“maybe we should stay out of it for now, he’s probably just nervous and getting used to it all,” Lance sighed, looking to Pidge for help, they merely shrugged and pointed to an owl weaving between rafters.  
“the mail’s coming.”  
As if on que, gasps rose from the other first years as more and more owls flooded the room, packages and letters grasped in their talons. They dropped them at their masters’ place on the table before taking their leave.  
Hunk received a package containing a knitted yellow hat and a letter from his parents; Pidge, a letter and a decent sized wad of cash.  
Lance was the last to receive mail, coming from a muggle family making the whole process a bit more complicated.  
It was a picture frame with a moving photo of his whole family together.  
There was the crash of a shattering plate down the table where the six Slytherin boys were sitting, all eyes turned to Keith who was unwrapping what appeared to be a broom.  
A fluffy black cat that resembled something more like a fox sat on hit shoulder, its eyes an electric blue; it sat straight, head held high as if in pride.  
Just as soon as it appeared, it disappeared with a flash of blue light and was next to Lance on the long bench he was sitting on.  
It stared at him, its unnatural gaze curious.  
Lance swallowed.  
“thanks for delivering this, Kossomo.” Keith called over to his familiar. It brushed against Lance and purred, it’s bushy tail swishing to and fro.  
“dude, why aren’t you petting me?” the familiar stilled and looked at Lance dead-pan.  
Hunk looked just about ready to scream, Pidge was utterly fascinated and Lance was unusually at a loss for words.  
“your cat just talked,” Lance pointed to the fox-cat and gazed at Keith, both in wonder and a thirst for answers.  
“Kossomo is a fox-cat, and yes, he talks. Sometimes I wish he couldn’t considering what comes out of that foul mouth of his,” Keith replied, shrugging nonchalantly.  
“I’m right here, and can hear everything you’re saying for your information,” Kossomo muttered, vanishing in a flash of light again.  
Everyone in the hall except a few individuals was watching by now, the room was cloaked in a pin-drop silence until one of the Slytherin boys spoke up.  
“how could you possibly know how to ride a broom if we haven’t even started classes yet?” Keith thought for a moment before answering, sending Lance’s pulse racing in anticipation.  
“it’s not like learning how to ride a broom is exclusively for schools—plenty of other witches and wizards probably learn when they’re young too.” Lance admired Keith, he would never admit it, but he did.  
“you must think you’re so special; you have a talking familiar, the latest and most expensive broom, a fancy wand. Well, let me tell you something: you’re not.” Keith’s face was the same impassive mask as before, save for a slight quirk of the corner of his mouth.  
He shouldn’t be focusing so much on these things, Lance knew. But he couldn’t stop.  
“I never said I was special, did I?” the faintest smile broke out across Keith’s face, it was sly, it was smart, but it was also rueful, “I was quite happy blending into the background, but you went and drew all this attention to me, so why don’t you just learn to mind your own business, James.”  
The teachers didn’t bother interrupting, they just went about eating their pudding, ignoring the situation as best as they could without neglecting their duties.  
“I don’t care what you want, _orphan_.” James all but spat the last word, slamming his hand down on the table.  
That was the final straw.  
Keith snatched up his broom and left the hall without a backward glance, Kossomo bounding along at his side.  
Lance wasn’t sure who was loathed more at that point in time: Keith, or James? The latter sat back down, looking rather smug as he dug into his pudding.  
Some stared at him with disdain, but most were impressed by his  show of malice—James was a Slytherin, after all. It was supposed to be their nature.  
One of the professors entered the hall, he had a prosthetic right arm and white hair but had to be 25 at most.  
It was Takashi Shirogane, the house teacher of Gryffindor. He briskly walked to the other teachers, snippets of their conversations could be heard, “…what the hell happened… why was nothing done about it…” Lance was almost mad at the professors for not stepping in, they let James get away with it and Lance caught glimpses of the looks the teachers cast at Keith even before the skirmish.  
Before he knew it, he and his friends were saying their farewells before trudging off to the dorms, exhausted from a long first day.

 

“that James is a dick,” Kossomo seethed, pacing back and forth on the roof.  
Keith snorted, his knees hugged close to his chest.  
“none of the teachers like me and it’s only my first day. I didn’t even do anything as far as I know,” Keith looked back on his first day at school, trying to think of anything he could have done to offend them, but he came up short, “what is it about me that’s so different? Why have I always been cast aside?” Keith didn’t feel a shred of self-pity, but he wanted to know, he was confused and in all honesty worried.  
He worried about what he might do, or have done wrong; about being too obvious, or too quiet; long story short, he worried about everything.  
“Keef? _Keith_.” His familiar dug his claws into Keith’s leg, earning a yelp from the young wizard.  
“sorry Kossomo, what were you trying to say?”  
The familiar opened his mouth but a figure clad in billowing red and black robes flew into sight, he guided his broom to the ledge on which Keith sat and landed gently.  
“you okay?” he asked, settling down next to his brother. Keith nodded, refusing to look at Shiro.  
“do you want to talk about it, or are you just going to sit up here and sulk for the rest of the night?” he elbowed Keith playfully who returned with a light push.  
“there’s not much to talk about—James is a… isn’t nice, the professors don’t seem very fond of me, and I just want to know why. And there’s so many people.” Keith waved his hands in exasperation.  
Shiro chuckled beside him, patting Keith on the shoulder.  
“you and your introverted soul. I knew you would find it hard here, but you’ll find your place, just you wait.”  
With a sigh, Keith pushed himself up, clutching his Severus-10,000 in his cold hands, Kossomo returning to his perch on Keith’s shoulder.  
“thanks, Shiro,” Keith mounted his broom, his robes flapping in the wind and black hair swept behind him, “it’s good to see you again.”  
“likewise, and remember what I said, you will find your place. You belong here.”

 

**Lance**

  
It was Monday of the second week and I was annoyed. Keith was always just one small step ahead of me in everything.  
Genuinely _everything_.  
He was a prodigy to say the least, I was a fast learner, but not quite as fast as him.  
“dude, you look like you’re trying to burn a hole in Keith’s face with that look.” Pidge startled me and the light spell I was concentrating on took a wrong turn.  
“Piiiiiidge,” I whined, trying to blink away the spots on my vision from the quick flash of light. Hunk laughed quietly, shaking his head in mock solemnity.  
“she’s got a point, you should concentrate, Lance.” with a huff, I repeated the spell.  
“Lumos.” A white light shone at the point of my wand and I grinned, nudging Hunk.  
“look, I actually did it!”  
Hunk clapped me on the back, “you go ahead and like charms, I, on the other hand will have as little to do with it as possible.” Hunk was nervous for charms class with professor Sanda, I could see why, she certainly wasn’t the nicest professor, but it had been a week and nothing had went wrong.  
“Keith Kogane! What did I tell you about moving onto other spells?” everyone turned to Mullet who winced at the sound of Sanda’s voice.  
“Sorry, Professor.” The cube of light he had made and was toying with slowly floated back down to the desk in front of him before dissipating.  
Anyone could tell that he had used some shaping spell to shape the light and Wingardium Leviosa to make it fly. It wasn’t dangerous in the slightest, it was just a bit of fun.  
“why don’t you act more like James? Well behaved, eager to learn…” she droned on and on and on about how James was the perfect little student, about how not only Keith should be more like him, but all of us.  
It hit a nerve.  
“sure, why don’t we be like James who steps on everyone and everything he pleases? Why don’t we treat the world and everything in it like our personal doormat?” I murmured, resting my jaw in my hand and rolling my eyes.  
Keith stifled a laugh from a few places down from me.  
“even the professors are his doormat, they’re swathed in all his bullshit that he doesn’t want to track into his reputation.”  
I doubled over and held my breath, trying my best not to laugh, Keith sighed in exasperation but was grinning manically, a few breathy laughs leaving his chest.  
“damn, Keith, that was…” I choked up and slapped my desk, taking a deep breath to calm myself, “that was harsh… but so true.”  
He wiped at fake tears, puffing himself up, “the world is a harsh place, Lancelot, it’s roast or be roasted.” We tried to keep our laughs to a minimum, sharing jokes and even twisting memes to fit the situation. Keith never struck me as someone who’d joke, and it was nice seeing this unguarded version of him.  
A book was slammed on the desk between us and the two of us practically jumped out of our seats.  
“would you boys care to explain what is so funny?” Keith and I mumbled ‘no’s, both shrinking away from Sanda.  
“Lance, I expected better from you. I would not have suspected you would associate yourself with a devious student such as Keith.” And just like that, Keith was back to his quiet, guarded self.  
I spoke before I really thought everything through, “how’s Keith ‘devious’? there’s nothing wrong with him, he just progresses faster than most of us.” despite my rivalry with Keith, I wanted to defend him again.  
“Detention.”

 

**Keith**

  
“I can’t believe you landed us in detention,” I moaned, slouching in my wooden seat.  
“I can’t believe you chose that haircut,” Lance retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.  
“how old are you? 13? Insulting my haircut is beyond immature.”  
Lance rolled his eyes, letting his head loll back.  
“whatever, Mullet.”  
We sat in silence for the good part of 10 minutes before Kossomo appeared, bounding over to Lance and jumping onto his lap.  
“Why’re you and Keef in detention?” I sagged even further down the chair when Lance replied, “because _Keef_ and I were laughing in class, and I stood up for him when the teacher got mad.” He shot me a glare and I returned it.  
“Kossomo, do you ever call Keith ‘Mullet’? Because I think you should.”  
“Lance, are you actually kidd—”  
The door of the charms classroom swung open, revealing a man with the most ridiculous moustache I had ever seen.  
“so,” he twirled said moustache around a finger, “I heard that you two were being troublesome in class… a Gryffindor and a Slytherin! Why, that’s an unusual match, but I’m here to put you two to use for the next hour, regardless; so, who fancies mucking out the owlery?”

It was horrible, to say the least. We finished as quickly as we could, hoping that the sooner it was done, the sooner we could get out of detention, but by the time we finished, we still had fifteen minutes left to kill. Which was slow killing when you’re organising books in the library.  
Although, I didn’t mind that particular task nearly as much as Lance, looking at the titles and mentally noting which ones went where and sounded interesting for future reference. Lance just slid them into their places with a huff, then a sigh, then another huff.  
I was wondering how long it would take before he gave in and talked to me, “so… you like reading, then?” I shrugged and scanned the text of another book.  
‘Art in Wizardry’ was the title, I set it on the stack of books I had accumulated and was planning on checking out.  
Lance eyed the spine of the book and he raised his brows.  
“when the hell is that supposed to be useful?” I shrugged again, noting how irritated he would get if I did it frequently enough.  
“you never know,” I said flippantly in Korean, he smiled big like the Cheshire Cat, showing off pristine straight, white teeth.  
“two can play at that game, Kogane.” From there it became a string of insults, his in Spanish, my own in Korean or Japanese.  
“Mierda! Half of that wasn’t even Korean!” I shrugged, Lance dragged a hand down his face.  
“I hate you, Keith. I despise you with every fibre of my self and essence of my being--”  
“okay, boys, you’re free to go now.” A head of neat ginger hair and a matching moustache appeared from behind a shelf.  
Lance and I sighed in relief, he stretched and yawned while I tried to carry my pile of books to the desk to be checked out.  
Lance ended up trailing behind me until I let him carry half of the load so that he ‘didn’t have to cringe every time it looked like I was going to drop something’. Sure, he was a bit annoying and talked more than I would prefer, but he was a nice kid.  
And, he was maybe, just maybe, really cute.

**Lance**

  
Pidge elbowed me in the side and Hunk had an arm slung over my shoulder.  
“so, how did detention with your rival go?”  
I shrugged, an annoying habit I may or may not have picked up from Keith.  
“fine, I’m just excited to see if he’s really as good at flying as it seems in the lesson tomorrow.”  
It was our first lesson of flying tomorrow—not just broom care and maintenance, no, we actually got to _fly_.  
I was determined more than anything to make the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. My father may have been a muggle, but even he loved the sport, watching it with my mother and I, Veronica would wave to her fans, flying close to give me a high-five when we were watching her at live matches.  
“what do you think about flying, Pidge?” Hunk asked, Pidge’s eyes were glued onto her phone’s screen while she replied, “I honestly don’t care much for Quidditch, and there are plenty of other methods for travelling so I can’t say I’m looking forward to it… there, done.”  
Hunk and I’s phones buzzed at the same time, we both fished them out of our bags.  
“’Pidgeon added you to the group chat’,” I read, eyeing the first message.

 **Today, 17:23**  
**Pidgeon added Lancelot and Hunk-o-Cheese to the chat**

**Pidgeon: Wassup, hoes?**

Hunk was the first to reply,

 **Hunk-o-Cheese: We’re standing RIGHT next to each other. Why don’t we converse verbally?**  
**Lancelot: This is 2043, Cheese-slice, catch up ;)**

Pidge was tapping away on their screen, smiling smugly.

**Pidgeon has named the chat ‘Hoes Be Like:’**

I stuffed my phone in a pocket and ran a hand through my hair, mentally debating how to spend the rest of the night.  
“I’m going to the Library before dinner. You guys coming?” I nodded more eagerly than I had intended and Pidge eyed me suspiciously, a foolish grin breaking out across her face.

 

There were exhausted, frustrated and bored ‘up’s from all directions. Keith was sitting on his broom which hovered maybe four feet off of the ground, his legs crossed and familiar on his shoulder.  
My broom flew into my hand, the feel of the smooth wood and victory satisfying.  
James caught his only seconds later than me and I watched out of the corner of my eye as he picked up a pebble and discreetly launched it at Keith’s broom.  
He seemed otherwise relaxed, happily sitting on his broom and stroking Kossomo until the small white stone came into contact with his shoulder.  
Sure, he wasn’t actually meant to be sitting on his broom yet, but there were nicer ways to get him off of it.  
Well, he didn’t exactly fall off, he just fell back and hung upside-down, his knees hooked over his broom.  
Our professor, Allura, watched as Keith gripped his broom and flipped himself back onto his feet, the same way you might when playing on monkey bars.  
He tenderly rubbed his shoulder, all the while glaring at James.  
Keith’s black hair was in disarray, stray pieces falling over his purple eyes and others sticking up.  
“James, I didn’t see what happened but I can tell that there is something amiss; Keith, please stay grounded for now.” Professor Allura had her hands on her hips, silver hair cascading down past that to almost her knees.  
“yes, Professor.” James said meekly, one hand holding his broom, the other behind his back.  
He was more of a muggle cadet training to be a pilot in the RAF than he was a student at Hogwarts learning to ride a broom.  
It annoyed me.  
There was a cry not far away from me and a student clutched their nose, wailing hysterically as it bled.  
“it’th broken! My nothe, it’th broken!” the boy also had a split lip, giving him a slight lisp.  
“okay, everyone, stay here for a moment while I help… Frank, was it? To the hospital wing.” Allura walked off, one arm around the student.  
She left us to what was inevitably going to be a disaster.  
“something bad’s going to happen, I know it.” Pidge muttered excitedly, their broom in hand.  
“why are you excited?” Hunk swallowed, looking between Keith and James.  
“hey, runt, I hope you don’t mind my taking this.” James waved a wand above his head, Keith frantically checked his robe for what he hoped was his wand, he pulled out an identical one, but upon snapping it, it was merely a well carved replica of the original.  
“give that back, James. It’s not yours.” Keith stepped forwards, hand outstretched to James.  
“why? What’s so special about it? It’s only a wand, you can get another one,” James taunted, gripping either end to see how long it would take to break.  
“I didn’t buy it, so I can’t get another one like it—”  
“so, you stole it? How disappointing.”  
“I didn’t steal it.”  
It was all too much. In seconds the wand was thrown into the air, Keith was after it as soon as it left James’ grasp, but James wasn’t letting him have it that easily.  
Keith fumbled with his wand as it tumbled through the air, just as his fingers wrapped around the wood James shouted, “Expelliarmus!” Keith snatched his hand back, hissing under his breath.  
James caught Keith’s wand and idly twirled it, flying circles above the rest of us.  
“what’s wrong? Caught by a disarming spell that easily? As good as you are with charms you should have been able to counter it.”  
“please, just give me my wand. I didn’t steal it, my mother gave it to me.”  
James wore a filthy smirk on that annoying face of his and I gripped my broom harder, I was going to do something really stupid if he didn’t stop real soon.  
“you mean the mother who left you?”  
All it took for James to realise he was dead was one glance at Keith.  
Keith was hot on James’ tail, and James’ goonies on his. Three against one wasn’t a fair fight—or at least it wouldn’t have been in most cases.  
God, Keith was fast.  
He suddenly pulled in front of James who collided with him, Keith was so close to getting his wand back but it was thrown again, this time to the goonies.  
Watching as Keith frantically tried to escape was horrible.  
James had a strong grip, stronger than the stitching on Keith’s robes which tore away, the ripping sound could be heard even from my distance.  
But Keith was gone again, heading straight for the two goonies.  
He shifted so one foot was beneath him on his broom, then the other, soon Keith was crouching, then standing.  
“Lance, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Hunk gasped, pointing an index finger at me accusingly.  
I didn’t think it through, but… “I’m going to help Keith.”  
I kicked off the ground.  
Flying felt natural, it felt good. Flying was very, very fun.  
Despite the situation, I let out a cry of joy, Keith turned his head and looked at me as he caught his wand and held it close to his chest, I could have sworn he smiled.  
It didn’t last. He was crushed between the two goonies, stupid Keith—he had his heart set on keeping his wand safe and forgot to keep himself from harm.  
I didn’t think that I would ever fly that fast ever again, even if I did end up playing Quidditch.  
A life is more important than a ball or the golden snitch, and when a life depends on it, it’s an obvious choice.  
I caught him only feet from the ground and we were sent tumbling through the trimmed grass, tearing up dirt in the process. I felt something snap beneath me and was beyond relieved upon realising it was my broom and not a bone.  
Finally, we came to a stop.

 

**Keith**

  
Opening my eyes I was scared of what I might see.  
Rather, I was greeted with ocean-blue eyes and a tanned face on which relief was written all over.  
Then, realisation settled in.  
Lance, was on top of me.  
Gangly, all-legs, perfectly tanned, freckled Lance.  
He apologised and removed his arms which were wrapped around me.  
“what are you apologising for?” I used the cuff of my torn robe to wipe the blood from a cut on Lance’s cheek, “it’s me who should apologise… and thank you. You… helped me and no one’s ever done that before.” I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel like hugging him right there and then.  
Even if he was annoying from time to time.  
“Lance!” Lance’s two friends were at his side on a second, the shorter one shaking him by the shoulders.  
“you were amazing! You’re a natural flyer!”  
“dude, that was so—”  
“James, Keith, Lance. I want you in my office now. I saw everything and I want an explanation! You two,” Allura turned to the goonies, “you will report to your prefect, and they will sort you out themselves.”  
I stood up tenderly and held out my hand, Lance grasped it and I helped him up.  
“what’s this?” the shorter friend adjusted their glasses and smiled mischievously, “rivals become friends? Foes now friendly?”  
Lance sighed, “Keith, this is Pidge. The tall one is Hunk, he’s nice unlike someone.” Pidge held up their hands in defence and pouted.  
“well, let’s go, Mullet.”

I was expecting anything but what I got.  
“Keith, you will be the Slytherin Quidditch Team’s new seeker; the same goes for you except for Gryffindor, Lance; James, your position with be chosen at Slytherin’s next training session by your Captain.”  
James was, to say the least, pissed.  
He did however, take some pride in my broken broom until he learned that he had to pay for a new one.  
So, as expected, he handed me a cheque for five-hundred pounds which wouldn’t get me a very nice broom, but I didn’t mind, and with no parents to support me I couldn’t stand to go spending a bunch of money.  
Lance and I were both sent to the hospital wing to get patched up, both with minor injuries consisting mainly of bruises, we were, of course, told to rest but I had other plans.  
And so it was just past dinner when two Hogwarts students and a strange familiar could be found in a broom shop in Diagon Alley.  
“Kossomo is so amazing, and I’m jealous. I mean, he’s like your own personal portkey that can take you anywhere.” Lance was amazed and Kossomo greatly appreciated the praise, jumping on to Lance’s shoulder and sticking his tongue out at me.  
“Wait.” Lance stopped walking and turned to me, “you haven’t told me what we’re doing in Diagon Alley yet.”  
I continued a few paces ahead of him and he jogged a few steps to catch up, “we’re going in there.” I pointed a finger to a shop near Ollivander’s, there were various brooms on display in the windows along with quidditch equipment that we would need.  
Lance’s face lit up more than I thought was even possible at the sight of our destination.  
We entered the shop, a bell above the door ringing merrily.  
“come on in, be quick though, we’re closin' in an hoor,” a voice called from what I guessed was a back room.  
Kossomo jumped from Lance’s shoulder to mine, then to the polished wood floor when he realised I didn’t have his treats.  
Lance had already stopped wandering about the shop and stood still as a frightened fallow in front of a broom, taking every detail of it in.  
He only moved when he saw the tag on it and that was to let his head loll back as he heaved a sigh.  
“I’ll never be able to afford this,” Lance moaned, crossing his arms over his chest.  
“no, but I can. Is this the broom that you want?”  
Lance gaped.  
“what do you mean… you’re saying that like you’re going to buy it for me…” I shrugged, “you’re actually going to buy me a broom?”  
“obviously. Yours broke when you caught me earlier, and if you hadn’t I would either be dead or have too many broken bones to count—I owe you big time.”  
It sunk in, but Lance almost looked mad.  
“you idiot!” Lance grabbed me by the collar of my red jacket and shook me violently. “I can’t believe you were so reckless! As soon as you got that wand back you just… gave up.” He steps back and glares at me. “what about your broom? The goonies ruined it, so you’ll need a new one.”  
I wasn’t expecting Lance to be so mad at me about earlier, and so I swallowed nervously, stuffing my scraped hands into the pockets of my black jeans.  
“I’m going to see if it can be repaired, it was dumb to get a new broom for school anyways and I’m not about to buy another for myself.” On that first day of school, I was excited to get my new broom knowing that I could fly as I wished without having to worry about muggles seeing me, I never thought it would cause so much trouble.  
“I’m sorry for snapping at you, Keith,” Lance was debating whether to say something else, I could see it in the way he creased his brows slightly.  
“ask away, Lance.” he seemed relieved at that.  
“why did you fight so hard for your wand? It put you in danger.”  
I pulled my wand from where it was strapped to my lower arm and held it out for Lance to see.  
“it was my mother's and she gave it yo me before she left. It's fourteen-inch, Yew, Dragon Heartstring and Phoenix Feather core. Good flexibility, the handle is carved to sit perfectly in the hand and runes decorate the shaft in a spiral. Visibly, it’s appealing but it’s also very powerful and temperamental.” Lance stood a head taller than me and bent at the waist to get a better look before taking out his own wand.  
“fifteen-inch, Apple, Unicorn Tail Hair and Thunderbird Tail Feather core. Not the most flexible. The handle is carved to look like waves and it sits nicely in the hand—”  
“Ollivander’s is jist doon the road if ye want tae talk aboot wands, ‘therwise, this shop is fer Quidditch an’ brooms.” Lance was interrupted by the shop’s owner whose voice was thick with a Scottish accent, and we quickly put our wands away.  
“how old are ye two? Ye look like first years, I dinnae sell tae most that age.”  
The old man looked us up and down, his white hair hanging from his head in limp strands.  
“Lance needs a new broom for the upcoming quidditch season and I need mine repaired, if it’s possible.” The Scot raised an untamed brow in question.  
“ye twa cannae be playin’ Quidditch already? Surely yer tae young.”  
Lance shook his head and rummaged around in his pockets before pulling out a slip of paper.  
“… McClain… drafted intae… Gryffindor’s team… Seeker? By god, lad. Already a seeker.” The man turned to me, “an’ ye?”  
I nudged Kossomo with a foot and he looked up at me expectantly, “Kossomo, do you think you could nip into the dorms and come back with my broom and letter?” my familiar nodded before vanishing in a flash of light. He was back in seconds, my cracked and bent broom thudded to the floor along with my letter.  
I picked the two objects up, unfolding the letter and giving it to the Scot who proceeded to read it.  
“so, yer a Seeker tae. Odd year this is.” He snatched my broom from my hands and ran an eye over it, “be better use tae ye as firewood, lad. Sorry, but I cannae do shit wi’ it.”  
Lance clapped me on the back, “sorry, Keith. You don’t have to buy me a broom, really. Get yourself one.”  
I shook my head. “excuse me sir, but do you have a broom of that model that would fit my friend here? I’ll be paying for it today if that’s alright, and it would be nice if it could be delivered tomorrow night. I’m willing to pay extra since it’s short notice.” Lance gripped my jacket sleeve and pulled.  
“ _Keith_.” I shook him off and the old Scot looked between us before his grey eyes finally settled onto Lance.  
“come wi me, lad. I’ll get a broom fitted tae ye.”  
Lance looked excited and pained at the same time, “thanks, Mullet.”

**Lance**

  
Sneaking into the dorms, let alone Hogwarts in general, just before lights-out was difficult. Unless you had a fox-cat, or at least were with someone who had one.  
“we’re still rivals, and nothing will change that. Got it, Kogane?” I poke Keith in the chest with a finger, his face lost its expression again as soon as we were dragged to a club room and were told we’d be on the Quidditch teams, it’d been hours since and I haven’t seen him smile once.  
I wanted him to smile again, the same way he did when he helped me up.  
“Whatever, McClain.” His alexandrite eyes caught in the flicker of candlelight and his long, white canines gleamed.  
Keith was different, and I admired him for it, even if he didn’t himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kids (especially ones in their early teens) can be mean, with little to no regard of someone's past or circumstances.  
> It's always easier with someone by your side and who will have your back, as Keith and Lance soon find.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *winces* sorry about how long it took me to update! I'm TRYING, I promise.
> 
> I don't rlly have any excuses.  
> Except that I do because I'm a sucker for rowing and running and I get in as much training as I can (and being the special child I am I broke my previous laptop by impaling the screen with an earring, killing it, and threfore losing all my work and having to start from scratch :) I is smart.)
> 
> Any how, this chapter is full of kids being kids, and I apologise in advance for it-- I actually didn't mind Nyma in the show, but James was always on my shit list-- HOWEVER, to make up for it I added some *screeches* that's right, bOnDinG MoMeNtS and fluff and little smiles and... you get the idea :3  
> h yeah, I completely forgot that in the wizarding world they use galleons as oppose to pounds, and that first years aren't allowed their own brooms... but this is an AU so yup. Not accurate.
> 
> Hope you enjoy my 5am, caffein induced chapter :)))

**Lance**

Pidge’s voice could be heard from Hogsmeade.

 _“we’re two hours into the Winter Cup’s first match! Who will win, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw? I sure as hell hope it’s Ravenclaw, so why don’t you_ woman up _and score some damned points already?”_ she was, without a doubt, the best commentator in the History of Quidditch.

Static could be heard over the speakers, but I wasn’t focusing on the noises—the cheering in the crowds, Pidge’s snarky voice, the sound of the Beaters keeping their teams safe from the bludgers as their bats made impact; no, I was looking.

And there it was, a glint of gold from the corner of my eye.

 _‘remember, think_ _one step ahead of the Snitch and at two.’_ I had no idea what Keith meant when he gave me that snippet of advice before the match.

But I couldn’t afford to think about his riddled advice—I needed to devote my focus solely on catching the Golden Snitch.

I was off, players clad in blue and red mere blurs as I flew past.

_“it appears that Gryffindor’s Seeker, Lance McClain, a first year and the brother of none other than the renowned Veronica McClain, has sighted the Snitch and is in hot pursuit. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that was the perfect que for Ravenclaw’s Seeker to start the chase.”_

Pidge, despite being my friend and ‘not a fan of Quidditch’ was determined to use her powers as commentator to their advantage using not so subtle hints.

So when the Ravenclaw Seeker cut in front of me I swore that I would catch the Snitch and make my team proud no matter the odds I faced.

**Keith**

I ran a hand through my inky hair nervously as I watched Lance chase the Snitch, neck and neck with the fifth-year Ravenclaw Seeker _._ He was both out-sized and had less experience, which is why I had to restrain myself from shouting at him to think _ahead._

The Snitch can’t be caught by endless chasing if you just think about what it’s done, as oppose to thinking about what it will do.

Then, and only then, can you catch it.

The two Seekers were chasing the Snitch which was coming closer and closer to where I sat.

I couldn’t do it anymore.

“Think ahead, Lance! Think! Ahead!” my hands were cupped around my mouth and I stood in the raised bleachers.

Lance’s fingertips grazed the surface of the Snitch as he flew past, in the split-second we had, we made eye contact and he nodded slightly, suddenly diving down, down, down.

The Ravenclaw Seeker was momentarily confused and she frantically looked around for the snitch, thinking that it had changed course.

It hadn’t but by the time she noticed it was too late.

The snitch migrated to the centre of the pitch where the action was thick, but Lance avoided it all, flying only twenty feet from the wet grass below. Then, he pressed himself close to his broom and shot straight up beneath the Snitch and snatched it from below.

_“and there it is, Lance McClain, the first-year seeker of Gryffindor has caught the snitch!”_

I pumped my fist into the air and let out a whoop of joy, Lance mirrored it and smiled in my direction, waving the snitch in the air above him.

Soon he was showered with praise by his teammates and was obscured by a great huddle of red and gold bodies.

I sat back down on my seat in the bleachers and sighed in relief, unable to help the smile tugging at my lips.

_“after earning Gryffindor 150 points, Lance McClain put them even further in the lead with a total 310 points. Overall scores for the game are as follows: 16 goals, 160 points for Gryffindor, Snitch, adding a further 150 points; 12 goals, 120 points for Ravenclaw. On top of this, it was a clean game and no penalties or fouls were called. The next match is tomorrow, Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. Don’t miss it!”_

A few girls who were sitting next to me sniggered, not bothering to keep their voices down as they chided, “he only caught that snitch because he has a fancy broom. He’s not even that good of a flyer. Pure luck he caught it, I bet he cheated.”

“probably landed a few fouls on the Ravenclaw seeker too.”

“Allura must’ve let it slide because she knows he doesn’t have half a wit in that thick head of his.” One of them stole a glance over their shoulder at me.

“he only has one fan, and even then it’s just the outcast. His friends are dorks that are about as dumb as he is.”

I clenched my fists at my sides.

“care to repeat everything you just said?” I asked, standing and walking the few feet over to them. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned, narrowing my eyes.

“what’s it to you, outcast?” the blonde one asked, throwing her hair over a shoulder.

“I couldn’t help but notice you bitching about Lance who frankly, worked really hard out there and did his team proud. You also claimed that he’s witless, which is far from the truth, he’s learned all of the spells in charms twice as fast as you, and has a knack for herbology which is far more useful a skill than tossing about insults and looking pretty. Oh yeah, which he’s also better at than you.” I almost bit off my tongue in an effort to stop myself despite knowing that it was already too late.

“what’s this? The outcast and the Seeker—”

“Keith!”

 

**Lance**

“Keith!”

I flew over to his bleacher and practically leapt off of my broom to wrap him in a bear hug.

I pulled away after a few seconds and held him at arm’s length, bouncing on my toes.

“did you see that? I caught the Snitch and it’s only my first match! I’ll need to take your advice more often,” I rubbed my neck and a blonde girl who was sitting nearby waved, catching my attention. I waved back and she smiled sweetly, long eyelashes fluttering as she blinked.

I turned back to Keith, he wouldn’t meet my eyes and was anything but smiling.

“yeah,” his voice was raspy, “you did great out there.” He smiled, his mouth curving into an almost sly grin, but his eyes were hardened with fury.

“Keith? Are you alright?” his face settled back into its usual impassive mask.

“why are you asking about me? Today is _your_ big day.”

I placed my hands on my hips, “you didn’t answer my question, Keith—”

“I’m _fine._ Your teammates are waiting.”

I glanced over my shoulder at the huddle of read and gold, one of my teammates noticed and waved.

When I turned back to the bleachers Keith was gone and I cursed under my breath.

“hey cutie. Nice job out there, that was some impressive flying.” The blonde Slytherin girl stood and brushed off her pencil-skirt, cocking her head to give me a bright smile.

I could feel heat rising from the pit of my stomach to my face and wiped the back of my hand across my forehead.

“lovely weather for December, eh? But not even the sun on a cloudless summer day could out-shine that smile of yours.”

She hid her mouth with her hand as she giggled, golden hair slipping from her shoulders as they shook.

“you flatter me, yet I am plain as a dormouse.” My jaw dropped in theatrical appalment.

“you do not give yourself enough credit… Nyma, was it?” her smile grew and she nodded eagerly.

“the great Lance McClain, Quidditch star in the making, remembers my name,” she sighed contentedly, playing along with the over-dramatics.

“it would be nothing short of appalling for someone to forget the name of an angel such as yourself… alas, I must be on my way now. Farewell, my fair lady.” I mocked a bow before mounting my broom and joining my team.

“damn, McClain, that was the icing on the cake! First match on the team and you’re already proving your worth.”

“some serious flying that was!”

“no pressure, but now we’ve got our hopes up on beating Slytherin this year.”

I was showered with praise, at first it wasn’t unwelcomed and I actually appreciated being noticed, but it became unbearable in due time.

“damn,” I pretended to look at the time on my Rolex watch, “I’m supposed to meeting a friend soon. I’ll be heading off now.” There were farewells as others decided it was time for them to take their leave too; once in the changing rooms I stripped off my kit and pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue hoodie as quickly as I could, hopping out of the changing rooms with only one shoe on.

_I have to find Pidge and Hunk… and Keith. I have to find Keith._

“who’d have thought I’d see you again so near in the future.”

 _Nyma._ Maybe I could postpone meeting my friends for a few minutes. Just a few.

 

**Keith**

Those girls had no right to talk about someone that way. No right to talk about _Lance_ that way.

It annoyed me to my wit’s end.

But there was one word that followed me every step I took.

_Outcast._

I wasn’t the best when it came to socialising, or people in general for that matter.

I was an introvert, but everyone’s shy from time to time.

I could fly and cast spells, so could almost everybody—excluding muggles obviously.

But… I had pointed ears and purple eyes. I also had fangs. Not canines as such, but literal fangs, not so long that they hung over my bottom lip, but long enough that they were twice the length of a normal kid’s.

It was inconvenient to say the least.

Sure, I wasn’t exactly 100% human, but there were _goblins_ enrolling in Hogwarts, so why should I be treated differently?

Why should Lance be treated differently just because he happened to save me from going ‘splat’ on the ground? Why should Lance be mocked and insulted because I supported him at the match?

If it was my fault, then it was my job to fix it.

I started by heading to the library.

There was a flash of blue light and Kossomo was beside me, our steps in synch as we walked down the halls.

“Keef, where are you going?” I sighed through my nose and turned a corner.

“I’m going to the library to study some spells and potions,” I replied, quickening my pace as the library doors came into sight.

“spells for what?”

“for illusions and glamours.”

“why do you need those spells?”

“for potions and charms class, Kossomo.”

I was counting down the seconds until the librarian came and lectured me about no familiars in the library, but it didn’t come, even after a minute.

So, Kossomo stayed by my side as I scanned the spines of books, pulling out ones that I thought may be useful; said books however, were a scarce few.

So it was ten minutes later that I was sitting at a table leafing through the pages of a book I found in the section meant only for senior years.

I was about to pass a page when the title of a spell caught my eye.

_‘Façadium Visagio’_

I smoothed over the page and gaped as I read the use of the spell.

_‘Need to blend in? Change your appearance? This spell will allow you to do so with little interference.’_

It was perfect. It was almost easy.

I ran my finger along the words, scanning the page, heart racing in my chest.

This was it... I could finally stop being a burden.

“a book about glamours, you say? Yes, yes... it should be around here somewhere...”

Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

I finished reading the page, re-reading it for safe measure before abandoning it and the other books on the table.

“excuse me? What do you think you’re doing over here?” I turned, maybe fifteen feet from the librarian, a fifth-year and the table I had previously occupied.

“I needed a book about healing uncommon and rare creatures because a friend of mine is interested in herbology and peculi—”

“this area is restricted to fourth-years and below, you will report to Coran for detention. Tell him that you were caught where you shouldn’t have been.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that this area was—” the librarian held up a hand, silencing me

“detention.”

 

* * *

 

“what did you do this time, lad?” I slumped in a chair across from Coran’s messy desk in his small room.

Or a large cupboard.

It could be called either, really.

“I was in a restricted section of the library.”

He twirled his ginger moustache around a finger and pulled out a tome, “Keith Shirogane, was it?”

“Kogane.”

“I thought for sure the two of you were brothers...”

“he tried to foster me, if that rings any bells.”

“are you both Japanese?”

“I’m Korean and Japanese, so kinda.”

“Gryffindor?”

“Slytherin,” I groaned, slumping further down in the chair, “why do you need to know all of this?”

Coran grinned and shut the tome, dust flying up.

“I’ll probably be seeing a lot of you, so I might  as well get to know you, eh?”

Why was he smiling? My getting detention regularly was _not_ a good thing.

“let’s see... how about we clean the candelabras in the great hall?”

I gaped, “but there’s so _many.”_

Coran flashed me another one of his grins.

“precisely why two hands are better than one, Keith.”

“it’s four and two...”

“it’s a figure of speech, Keith.”

Clearly, no amount of whining would get me out of it.

At least there wasn’t anyone in the hall to watch as I strode in with Coran, buckets for dried wax and polishing cloths in hand.

“We’ll start over here; you polish and I’ll clean up the wax; make sure to use the silver polish please, not the shoe polish (they’ve been mixed up).”

 I nodded absentmindedly, sorting through the tubs of polish to find the one for silverware.

Coran handed me the first candelabra and I winced as the metal stung my hand, dismissing it as the allergy I have towards most silvers.

But as I continued polishing the decoration I found that the skin of my hand was beginning to do something.

And by something begin to burn and go raw.

“I don’t think this is the best way to put me to use, Coran. I’m allergic to silver,” I said, hiding my hand beneath the table

The ground-keeper raised his brows “why didn’t you say so before, lad?” his eyes wandered to the candelabra then th hand I was hiding beneath the table, “tell you what, you can make me some tea and we’ll call it good.”

I nodded.

“thanks, Coran.”

 

* * *

 

My hand shook as I tried to pour tea into a mug for Coran, but my fingers were swollen from the small cuts and the burns marring the skin.

“Keith,” I squared my shoulders and held out the mug to Coran, looking away, “Keith, you said Shiro wanted to foster you.”

“and?”

Coran sighed, “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but did you know who... or what your parents were?”

I made to leave his small hut, walking briskly to the door when he spoke again.

“at least let me take a look at your hand. I promise I won’t ask any more questions.”

I gripped the doorknob in my good hand, “thanks Coran, but I’ll be fine.”

I stepped out of the threshold into the snowy Highlands and set off for the school.

 

  **Lance**

 

“have either of you seen Keith?” Pidge and Hunk exchanged a look.

“isn’t he supposed to be your nemesis or something? Y’know... rivals, Keith and Lance?” Pidge enquired, pushing her glasses further up her pert nose.

 I snorted.

“never mind, I’ll just wait until dinner.”

 I sat myself next to my friends, rubbing my hands together and breathing hot air into them.

“you guys going home for Christmas?” Hunk asked, handing Pidge a screwdriver.

“yeah, I live down in Edinburgh so I don’t have an excuse for staying here over the longer breaks,” I replied, reaching to poke Pidge’s mechanical owl.

She swatted my hand away and glared before composing herself, “my mum is a doctor in London, and my dad works here so we’re both planning to go down and visit her. You, Hunk?”

“I’m heading back to Hawaii so I can spend time with my little cousins in our home country.”

I gaped, turning to him.

“Hawaii? The land of blue waters, and _sharks?!_ Dude, sharks are my favourite animal, you neeeeed to take pictures! Please?” I begged, hands together as if in prayer.

“sure, I don’t see why not. We live a few hours from the beach, but we’ll probably go for our annual brunch picnic.”

I melted in gratitude for the actual cinnamon roll sitting next to me.

“you’re the best, dude.”

The three of us sat together, savouring our hot-chocolates and playing a few games of wizard chess when Mullet walked into the student lounge, books in hand.

“Keith!” I stood up and waved him over, “Mullet, you gotta see what Pidge is making!” he shook his head and left as quickly as he appeared.

Pidge cocked a brow, “he’s an introverted soul, Lance. You probably went and scared him away.”

“d’you think it was because I called him ‘Mullet’? I think I hurt his feelings... should I go after him? I mean, I’ve called him it before...”

“Lance, just sit down. He probably needs some time to himself, and this game isn’t going to win itself.” With a huff, I resigned myself to the inevitable loss of another game of chess.

 

* * *

 

Dinner came and went, and Keith missed it.

I needed to apologise, and thank him for earlier.

And to do that I needed to find him.

“see you at the match tomorrow, I’m going to call it a night—y’know, I’m a bit tired after all that flying today—”

“yeah, yeah, Lance. Go find you’re boyfriend already.” That had me out of the doors.

I wandered the halls for some time, checking the library, knocking at the serpent statue acting as the entrance for the Slytherin dorms and common room, asked around, until finally... _finally_ I found Keith sitting on a windowsill in the newer north-tower.

“hey,” I said, my voice sounding loud amidst the silence, “I just wanted to thank you for earlier, I’m not sure I would’ve caught the snitch without you advice.” he still didn’t turn.

“and I’m sorry for calling you ‘Mullet’ earlier, I didn’t mean it as an insult... wait. Are you crying?”

Keith wiped at his eyes with a bandaged hand.

“I’m... I’m not.”

I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“lemme guess, you’ve been cutting onions.”

“because I’ve been making a lasagne for one,” Keith finished the lyrics to the Fight of the Conchords song as intended, but it didn’t bring a smile to his face.

“where’s Kossomo?” he kept his gaze trained firmly on something outside, probably the beautiful, snow-covered Highlands beyond and the flakes dancing in the currents of air.

“I don’t know, he’s been gone for hours and I can’t find him _anywhere.”_

“hey, Keith, look at me,” he didn’t until I grabbed his cheeks and manually turned him to face me, “we’re going to find him. Let’s go, worrying about it won’t do anything.”

He nodded, his cheeks squished.

They were so ~~soft~~ and ~~plush~~ and  ~~ _cute._~~ _No,_ they were just cheeks.

Yet for some reason, the sight made me blush, and for some reason, he did too.

He made to hop down from the windowsill, but he was maybe four and a half feet tall, leaving him a bit of  drop.

“man, how’d you even get up there?” I asked, holding out my hand.

“I climbed... well, I scrambled is more accurate.”

Chuckling, I watched as Keith hopped down, tripping up on his own feet as they hit the floor and catching him when he went stumbling into my chest.

His amethyst eyes stared into my own, and he lingered a little longer than most would. Bear in mind I didn’t move to disengage either as we stood with not an inch between us in a ray of moonlight trickling through the windows.

“your ears are kinda cute, Keith. You should try pulling that hair of yours back some time.” Before I knew what I was doing, my fingers were brushing his hair behind a delicate, pointed ear, the peak highlighted with silver light.

Oh. My god.

I snatched my hand back and Keith stepped away, cheeks bright red, and only getting redder as his stomach growled.

“Hungry?” he nodded. “good thing I brought food.”

I opened my satchel and produced a slice of buttered bread and a thermos with hot-chocolate.

“why do you have a thermos? We’re at school.”

I smirked, winking as I placed it in his waiting hands, “you can never be too prepared, short-stuff.”

Keith smiled, and god did it make me happy, so happy in fact that there were butterflies in my stomach.

 

* * *

 

Walking side by side, we checked everywhere that wasn’t off-limits to us, Keith even getting permission to let me in the Slytherin common room and his dorm to help him search.

But we couldn’t find his companion.

“when did you last see him?”

And we were storming down the halls to the library, but by the time we reached the doors the librarian was locking up.

“excuse me, miss. Have you seen a black fox-cat? He has silver fur on his stomach, the tips of his ears and his tail, and as blue eyes.”

The librarian bent at the waist to get a better look at Keith.

“I can’t say I have. For the record, you’re banned from the library for two weeks.”

I dragged the small Korean away before he bit the librarian’s head off.

Then the bells rang.

“oh no, oh no no no... this can’t be happening!” I grabbed Keith by the shoulders as his composure slipped, “it’s curfew and we still haven’t found him—”

“Keith Kogane, if you don’t get your ass in your bed in the next fifteen minutes I’ll kill you before your match tomorrow. Kossomo will be fine, I know it. Don’t worry.” I wrapped the shorter boy in a hug.

“You’re still my rival, Mullet.” I muttered, just for safe measure.

“yeah, whatever, loverboy-Lance.”

What he said shouldn’t have sent my heart racing kike it did.

I caught Keith’s bandaged hand in my own and began unwrapping it.

“what are you doing?” he whispered.

I smiled before replying simply, “helping.”

I pressed my palm to his and closed my eyes, letting out a deep breath slowly.

When my lungs were empty of air I opened them to the sight of pale skin illuminated by moonlight framing the starry night sky itself. The universe and all that was good in it could be found in those eyes that were up-tilted and framed by thick black lashes.

And Keith was the keeper of those stars and the wishes made upon them.

Keith was the heart of a dream I wouldn’t dare voice.

 

**Keith**

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach from the second I woke up, to the sinking feeling of dread when I couldn’t find Lance at breakfast.

When his midnight eyes were nowhere to be found.

It was with a sense of dread that I walked onto the quidditch pitch, filing on with the rest of the Slytherin team behind me and the captain.

I flexed my newly healed hand, trying not to think about the mark on my palm hidden by my black leather gloves.

My hands shook as they gripped my broom and I found that I couldn’t stop swallowing.

 _“on my left we have Slytherin, the only team other than Gryffindor to have recruited a first year, let alone one as a seeker! It’s the one and only—he’s gotta be my favourite because he makes me feel better about my height—Keith Kogane! The captain has held his title since he was only third year, it’s Ashvelt Thyke! Now, moving on to Hufflepuff—the cinnamon-rolls of the school as per described by my friend, Lance McClain... ”_ Pidge went on to list the players and which positions they were playing, past experience and achievements, age and any notable relations whilst we warmed up.

Not soon enough, the whistle was blown and the game began.

Ignoring the commotion around me, I kept my eyes peeled for a flash of gold and ears trained for a buzzing sound.

I took deep breaths, trying to calm the shaking of my hands.

There it was, all I had to do was drown out the other noises and focus before the sound caught my sensitive hearing.

I flew up, wiping the snow from my goggles and drowning myself in the silence created by the falling flakes and grey clouds.

The beat of the snitch’s wings grew faster, almost frantic. Good, the other seeker was in the chase.

I closed my eyes and the air was rushing past me as I fell, focusing only on the sounds.

I didn’t dare waste a second of time, only dodging other players by a hair’s width as I weaved through the thick of it. If you just listened to the changes of the rhythms you could predict the direction and speed at which the Snitch would go.

“you can do it, Keith! You can! I know it!” Lance’s sweet voice was stark against the other hundreds of shouts.

“show them what you can do!” his voice was getting closer, and so was the snitch. The Hufflepuff seeker was just below me and it all depended on what I did now.

I opened my eyes and there it was, I continued my dive down and snatched the snitch from where it was, only inches from the grasp of the opposing seeker.

The only downside was the collision following my sudden appearance resulting in a disaster.

The Hufflepuff seeker came to a sudden stop, sending them flying forward and off of their broom.

By that time I was below her, and as she fell past me I grabbed her by the ankle with my free hand, knees hooked over my broom as I hung upside-down.

“what the hell was that move? You almost got me killed!” she screeched.

I tucked the snitch into the pocket of my winter robes and grabbed her other ankle, blood rushing to our faces.

 _“it appears that Kogane can catch not only the snitch, but also seekers themselves. Y’know, they’re in a pretty tricky SITUATION HANGING LIKE THAT, AND COULD PROBABLY USE SOME HELP FROM THEIR TEAMMATES,”_ pidge drawled, raising her voice above the screams and shouts.

Then there was ringing and cursing and lance’s voice rang out, _“that was your que to go help your teammates... oh yeah, Slytherin won the match, the snitch is caught and wigs are probably snatched after that amazing catch!”_ more ringing, then...

_“thanks for the vine references, Lance—they’re still hanging... yup, that’s right... you’re going to need more than one person to help them... no... careful!”_

A group of Hufflepuffs flew over and helped their teammate down onto the pitch and I relaxed, still hanging. Lance leaned over the bleachers in the stand, giving me a thumbs-up.

“that was too quick, you didn’t give anyone enough time to score.”

I gaped, “you’re joking...?”

He shook his head and grinned, Leaning further out and grabbing the shaft of my broom.

“the score is 150 to 0. It only lasted maybe five minutes and with the crap weather it was too hard for the players to see the hoops.”

Lance pulled me into the stands and Pidge laughed into the mic, _“good thing all the action was right in front of us, otherwise Kogane might have been hanging there for a while... the only downside was his almost getting rammed into us, but it would have made the papers, that’s for sure! Say, Keith, what was your opinion on the game since you’re right here?”_ I nimbly flipped myself off my broom and Pidge shoved the mic into my chest.

“well, it wasn’t terribly difficult—I think I have the easy job as the seeker...” what was I supposed to say? “I should probably apologise for almost crashing into the Hufflepuff seeker, and you, Pidge. Um,” geez, I was so bad around people, so, so bad. “a thanks to Lance for giving me a hand, and well done to the teams for playing in this horrible weather, I’m not sure it could get much worse. Uh, Pidge...” I prompted, handing the mic back.

_“sorry ‘bout that. Keith is a shy soul. Now... let’s get the formalities over with, because I’m cold, and I’m sure everyone else here is cold.”_

Lance patted me on the shoulder, “meet me outside the changing rooms,” he had bags under his eyes, and his hair wasn’t in its usual styled state, “I couldn’t find Kossomo last night.”

My heart sank in my chest and jumped at the same time. Lance stayed up after curfew to try and find Kossomo. Lance helped me out of his own good will. Lance was amazing.

I kind of wanted to kiss him.

But he was a boy, and so was I.

And there was no hope.

All the anxiety that had built up and was released in the adrenaline of the match was back again.

My hands shook, but Lance squeezed them reassuringly.

“you’re team is waiting, and I’ll be too.”

 

* * *

 

I peeled my soaking clothes off and folded them neatly, setting them to the side.

 Reaching for my kit bag I found that it wasn’t where I left it, so I wrapped my towel about my waist and tried to find it, shivering in the cold.

I took Lance’s advice and pulled up my hair in a messy ponytail for the match. I kinda liked the look, but it meant that cold water dripped down my neck and back, snaking down the lightly scarred skin.

At least there was no one left in the room to see it.

“hey, Kogane. Loving the new hairstyle by the way.” James was tossing my bag up and down, but he stopped suddenly and dropped it on the floor when I made no attempt to take it back, “you’re boring, you didn’t even try to get it back. Here, take it.” He kicked the bag and it slid across the floor to my feet.

“you know what annoys me? You went and caught that snitch in five minutes— we didn’t get the chance to score one goal. Not one. You just went and took the glory of winning the match for yourself, and on top of that you went and saved he Hufflepuff seeker. What happened to letting us actually play? Surely you don’t think that being the star of the team will help something like you blend in.”

Something? “did you just call me a something?” I growled, snatching my bag up.

James smiled smugly, “well you’re not human. Why else would you have been looking at spells for glamours?” I stiffened, clutching my bag close to my chest, “say, why don’t I give you a hand with that.”

How did he know?

Hands grabbed me from behind, one at the back of my neck, another holding my ponytail and two pinning my arms behind my back.

James sauntered over and wedged my mouth open, testing the tip of a canine.

“you remind me of a dog, just a mangy mutt left by its owners. We all know you’re an orphan, left by your mum and dad. No wonder they left something like you—” my teeth clamped down on two of his fingers and he yelped, trying to yank them free.

“you don’t know why they left! you Don't know _anything_ about what happened to them!” I shouted, thrashing against his goons.

James stood to his full height, pulling a small file from his pocket, “you know I’m right. Lance and your other little friends will be next.”

The small metal file—probably for nails—neared my face and I growled, “you leave them alone, I don’t care what you do to me just leave Lance out of it!”

“then leave Hogwarts,” James crooned, taking a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back as the file ran over a canine, “just think, once I’m done you’ll be one step closer to your goal of blending in with us humans, so you shouldn’t struggle in the muggle world.”

I wanted so desperately to blend in, I wanted to be able to be with Lance. It was selfish.

_“you have your mother’s ears and eyes, Keith... even the same little fangs.”_

But not that way.

No... I would never do that to my mum and dad. Not in any way even if it meant that I looked human.

“Jeez, James. Way to spout out he bullshittiest false morality I have ever heard,” I drawled around the file in my mouth.

_“do I really have mikasa’s eyes?”_

A hand found its place fisted in the collar of my shirt.

_“yes, Akira. You have your mikasa’s eyes, and her blood in your veins. You will without a doubt grow up to be the same as her.”_

The file grated against tooth.

_“but what does that mean?”_

I didn’t cry. I wouldn’t give James the satisfaction.

_“you will know in the years to come.”_

How long, I did not know then.

Now... that time had undoubtedly come.

And I fought.

 

* * *

 

I came to, hands tied behind my back with what felt like zip-ties.

I ran my tongue over my teeth, flinching at the bluntness I found where my canines should have been sharp.

There was a pulsing pain in my temples and my ears rang, the sound of laughter muffled.

“look, the little seeker is awake...” a hand grabbed me by the arms and I was dragged along the floor towards the door to the changing rooms, the world spinning around me.

“where we gonna take him?”

“the forest, obviously.” The door swung open and James hissed when he saw Lance leaning against the wall.

“ _fuck.”_   I was shoved towards Lance who caught me by the shoulders and kept me upright, “if you don’t want your little friend to get expelled, McClain, then I suggest you don’t tell anyone about this,” James spat, taking off down the corridor and out into the snow.

“oh my god... Keith, what happened?”

 

**Lance**

I couldn’t stop staring.

Keith made to run past me but I caught him by the arm.

“you can’t go ‘round like that, you need a shirt and a nurse,” I pleaded, pulling Keith closer.

He swallowed.

“you need to promise to stay away from them,” he whispered.

Anything. I’d do anything to keep him safe. So I nodded.

But I wanted so badly to do... I don’t know what I’d do... just anything would be better than standing there, useless.

“They didn’t do anything serious, just knocked me out for a while—” I cut Keith off with a hug.

“what did they do to your teeth?” I murmured into his ear, arms tightening about his bare torso. “don’t lie to me, Keith.”

“He... filed them. I was knocked out most of it,” he replied. I pulled away and held him at arm’s length.

“come on, I need to untie you.” Keith turned around and I worked at the plastic zip-ties that restrained his hands.

The plastic dug into my fingers as I struggled to snap it.

I had never been so thankful for there being a separate building for the quidditch changing rooms and gear, because if another pupil were to walk past I had no clue what would happen.

Keith’s strained breaths had my heart aching.

I knelt down and used my teeth to snap the ties, grinning as they fell to the floor.

There was the same stylised 'V' stretching from his wrist to his palm as on my own, and I chose to dismiss it as nothing.

“that would have went so much quicker if I had teeth like yours,” I muttered, sticking out my bottom lip in a pout.

Keith tested his wrists, then looked up at me.

“you’re great, Lance. Thank you for being there for me...” he buried his face into my chest and said it over and over, “thank you.”

“we’re supposed to be rivals, I can’t have you getting all soft on me.” I whined, shutting up the second I saw his hair. Maybe I could let go of being rivals with him, I decided.

“it was him! He’s the one who bit me!” Keith jerked his head up and frowned.

“Lance? I don’t believe he would have bitten you.”

“no. _Keith_.”

Of course James went to Ms. Sanda.

“Keith was only defending himself,” I denied, “James and his friends beat him up, then restrained him and he was knocked unco—”

“I find it very unlikely that first-years could render another unconscious. Besides, you shouldn’t have been in the changing rooms today, so how would you know?”

Well shit.

“I wasn’t—”

"then there is no proof that what you say is true.”

“the zip-ties they used are right here!” I picked them up and held them out for her to see.

“Keith Kogane, you are coming with me-- I never expected that you would get tangled up with a mess like Keith, Lance.”

I gasped.

“can you not see his bruises? He has a black eye, his wrists are chafed and there’s clearly a cut on is head. And James filed his teeth down! Look at them! Please believe m—”

“unless you want to end up like Keith, I suggest you leave this to me." she had the audacity to call Keith a mess. "Come, Keith.” he wasn't some dog to be told to heel and stay and come.

But he did as instructed. And I hated him for it.

“Keith, you don’t need to go with her. You didn’t do anything unprovoked.”

“I won’t drag you down with me, Lance. I won’t.”

Stupid. _Stupid , stupid_ Keith.

 

* * *

 

“Lance, what’s wrong?” I stormed to ‘our spot’ in the lounge.

“Keith’s going to let himself get expelled and they won’t let me see him and James is getting away with everything and Shiro isn’t here and—” Pidge wacked me on the back of the head with her book.

“he’s too smart to be expelled, Lance. This school will hog him to itself and it’s not like he has anywhere else to go.”

Hogwarts isn’t Hogwarts without Keith.

Hunk chimed in, “I made cookies.”

“Hunk, if you will allow it I would very much like to drown my sorrows in said cookies.”

Hunk rubbed a soothing hand on my back as I sat down and he produced a tin of freshly-baked cookies that I proceeded to munch on.

When did he even have the time to make them? Hunk was magic, and not just in the literal sense, but he truly was a culinary master of great feats.

“can I take one to Ke—”

Pidge slammed her book down on the table, drawing a few looks in our direction.

“don’t you dare finish that question, Lance. We get that you have an attachment to Kogane and all, but he’s going to get you suspended one of these days—on top of that, try going ten minutes without bringing him up. Try it. I bet you can’t.”

I bit my tongue, if only to prove her wrong.

But only for ten minutes. Not a second longer.

“Hunk, I love these, and I would ask for the recipe if I didn’t think that I would taint it with my crappy cooking skills. So, in that case how would one acquire more of said cookies, mayhaps for a friend? But seriously, you need to teach me how to cook.”

“sure, but tonight we’re all meeting up in my dorm to play that new Harry Potter x-box game for the irony of it.” Hunk said, sliding me the tin.

“OMG yessss,” I screeched, shaking hunk by the shoulders.

Pidge grins, setting down her tech and pushing her glasses further up her nose. “straight after dinner?”

“straight after dinner.”

  ~~~~

* * *

 

I half-jogged to the infirmary, the tin of few remaining cookies tucked beneath an arm.

Then there was someone overtaking me, red and black robes flaring behind them as they sprinted down the hall.

It was professor Shirogane.

He made to turn a corner but halted and turned to me, panting, “Lance, thank god, did you see Keith? Is he okay? Do you know what happened?”

_“if you don’t want your little friend to get expelled, McClain, then I suggest you don’t tell anyone about this”_

Damn it.

“I think he slipped in the changing rooms and hit his head, is all,” I replied, “I was just bringing him some cookies Hunk made to make him feel better.”

Shirogane’s face softened and he ran a hand through his hair.

“thanks Lance, I’m glad Keith has a friend as good as you watching his back.”

Watching his back. If I had been watching his back he wouldn’t be hurt.

_Keith was the heart of a dream I wouldn’t dare voice._

Friends. It was a reminder that that was all we would ever be. That he was out of my reach.

 _“Go find you’re boyfriend already”_ Sure Pidge, whatever you say.

He was smart. Athletic. A natural at everything. He was cool... and he was _cute._

He was my better and he was out of my league and I hated it.

I practically stormed into the infirmary, ready to throw the tin at Keith’s stupid, pretty face and lecture him.

But he wasn’t awake.

And Shirogane was in a heated argument with Ms. Sanda right next to his bed, yet still he did not stir.

Being the coward that I was, I halted when Sanda’s eyes met mine and narrowed, then swivelled on my heal and ran.

I ran, leaving behind my unobtainable wish and dream to the biased judgement of adults who wouldn’t bother looking past that stoic visage Keith had.

I slammed into my dorm, too busy hating Keith and his stupid refusal of help to pay the mess of my bed any heed as I flopped on the covers.

Or maybe I hated myself for not pushing.

 

* * *

 

Pidge and Hunk were busy multitasking between eating and fiddling with their project when I walked into the hall, Keith reading a book a few seats down and ignoring the untouched plate of food in front of him.

The distinct lack of a silvery fox-cat by his side begging for food was sickening.

I sat across from Pidge and Hunk who looked up, the former with half a bread crust sticking out her mouth and glasses slipping down.

“I can’t believe you missed the soup, Lance. It was mushroom and chicken, one of your favourites,” Hunk sighed, tutting in faux disappointment.

Pidge snorted, “as if, last time Lance accidentally bit into a mushroom he thought it was his tongue Hunk.”

I glared at Pidge, dishing up some food.

“I like the flavour. Just not the mushrooms.”

Setting down the plate, I stood and walked behind Keith, snatching the book from his hands and promptly shut it with a snap.

“c’mon, Keef. Try to be more sociable,” I complained, then, added quietly, “I don’t care about whatever James said. Sit with us, it’ll be fine.”

He held out his hand expectantly, not saying a word.

“I won’t do it, Lance. He was being seri—”

I proceeded to drag him (figuratively) down to my place at the table and made him sit down, careful not to be too rough.

He had a bruise on his jaw and along a cheekbone, leading to a bandaged cut on his temple. On top of that his bottom lip was split and there was nasty bruising around his neck, disappearing behind the collar of his shirt.

 I was all too happy to break the silence that ensued in his appearance. “so, how was your first quidditch match?”

Keith grimaced, “more like my last.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, there we go, chapter two and a cliche romance in the making. which I hope you enjoyed!  
> feel free to leave comments (and kudos uwu)  
> Question: would it be better if I did shorter chapters and uploaded them more frequently or longer chapters and less often?
> 
> also, if you've read my other fic 'At First and Always', I promise there will be an update in the near future and if not, why not give it a read?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my fanfic-- I have NO idea how many chapter there will be, but I plan on updating it monthly if not more frequently (it's all dependent on how busy I am with the Squad training, how many competitions I'm stuck going to and all that athletics stuff; I'm also really busy with pipe band practices, highland games/gigs etc. over the summer and winter so bear with me)  
> I hope the spacing turned out alright, some of it is supposed to be in bold and italics and I'm not sure how it turned out.  
> if you have any suggestions please feel free to comment.  
> thanks!


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